Narrowly escaping the bad weather of Hurricane Helene, the St. Pius X cross-country team embarked on a literal cross-country trip to participate in the Nike Portland XC race. In a competitive field of teams from all over the Pacific Northwest, St. Pius had multiple PRs along with high team placements in both varsity races.
The boys’ varsity scored 12+34+54+56+66, placing them 9th with a team average of 17:30, the team’s best average at that point in the season (17:22 at Coach Wood Invitational 10/19). At the Nike Portland race, 3 of the 7 St. Pius runners set personal records including sophomore Luke Lorenzo (17:21, later ran 16:59 at Coach Wood), sophomore Ian Ngo (17:42, later ran 17:23 at Coach Wood), and junior Avan Prindiville (17:48). In the JV boys races, juniors Andrew Someron and Zach Garcia both set PRs which have both been broken since.
The varsity girls continued their trend of fast racing, scoring 35+41+55+64+67. This landed them in 11th place in the Danner Girls Championship race, paired with a team average of 19:54 (broken at Coach Wood with a team average of 19:32). Four new PRs were set by senior Ella Stone (19:18), junior Evelyn Ballew (20:15), senior Savannah Stone (20:20), and freshman Samatha Hakarem (20:28, later ran 19:53 at Coach Wood). Sophomores Reese Sellers and Sophie Carden set new PRs, which were broken again at Coach Wood.
“My race in Oregon went very well, I liked all the energy throughout the course,” Ella Stone said regarding her race. “I had a PR and it was a great learning experience.”
The following day the team traveled to the beautiful McKenzie River trail for a Sunday long run. Filled with lush greenery and large redwoods, the trail provided the perfect backdrop for the team’s 8-10 miles. The following day, runners participated in a tempo workout on Hollister Trail located on Nike Campus.
“The long run in Oregon was definitely the best part of the trip,” said senior captain MaryPerrin Carpenter. “We got to run under the trees near a river and it was by far the prettiest run I have ever been on.”
The XC team had toured Nike earlier in the trip, which was hosted by Nike Storytellers, current employees at Nike. The team heard stories behind the architecture of the buildings and the foundations of Nike. They also got to visit the on-campus track, which multiple legendary runners like Galen Rupp and Mo Farah have trained on.
The team also visited the University of Oregon, catching a glimpse of Hayward Field and making the hike to see Pre’s Rock, the death place of famous American distance runner Steve Prefontaine. These two locations play a pivotal role in American running and were special to visit.
Following these experiences Ngo said, “I think that it was really cool to tour and see such important parts of running history at Nike campus and Hayward Field.”
Although running was the main focus of the trip, the good food was a close second. Following the race, runners enjoyed a delicious meal with beautiful views at Salty’s on the River. Later that evening, they visited Vancouver, Washington, enjoying the glowing sunset while eating at a variety of restaurants along the river walk. The delicious food continued in Eugene with a team stop at the famous Voodoo Doughnuts.
Through the special trip, the XC team was able to grow closer while logging multiple unique runs and miles.
